How long from start to finish?

I finally had my first RE (reproductive endocrinologist) consult regarding DE. It was a more demoralizing than uplifting meeting. Not sure if I was hoping to hear all the positives of making this decision, but instead I was listed all the obstacles to overcome to achieve a baby, (finding a donor, screening the donor, synchronizing cycles, number of eggs retrieved, number of eggs fertilized, etc etc). One of the things that threw me for a loop and did not seem right was the legnth of time it would take from the start of the process to embryo transfer. My RE (reproductive endocrinologist) told me that I should aim to transfer in Dec 2015!!! That is 18 months from now!!! Does that seem right? He has an almost non-existent donor pool (one of the main reasons we probably won't be going with him) so for that aspect alone he is quoting a 3 - 6 month wait, then he says before that is counseling, then after there is screening, etc etc. Has this been your experience?

How long has it taken you from your first clinic appointment to donor transfer?

Comments (12)

Dec 2015? That's a long wait. U can find your own donor by going through donor agencies. I started looking in March and did my ivf in June. Finding donor is the most time consuming I would say. But let's say 3-4 months to find a donor. U should be still able to do it end of this year or early next year. Goodluck. Hugs.

Wow - is there any way you can change MDs? In my consult, my RE (reproductive endocrinologist) was warm and reassuring. You could also look for a clinic that uses frozen eggs - with a good clinic, the success rates are close to the same with a fresh cycle, but costs less money and requires no synching with a donor.

Im a donor. Some donors are chosen withing 45 minutes of being put into the database. So you definitlely shouldnt have to wait till Dec '15!! You can search the donor database on your own for a good match and then go from there. I was told once I am chosen it will take a month or two to sync our cycles. Once the injections start it's only 7-10 days until retrieval.

I was going to ask the same question. Dec 2015 seems like an awful long time. My RE (reproductive endocrinologist) also had a very small donor pool so we ended up using an agency and found a donor within a few days. Our RE (reproductive endocrinologist) has approved her AMH levels and as a donor for us. SHe goes for her pyhsical on July 8th and her final tests and then I assume we move forward. However, I am not sure of what the timeline from there is. I am hoping for an August/September transfer.

Where do you live? With frozen eggs you can be transferring within 1-2 months depending on the clinic's checklist of things you have to complete beforehand.

With our cycle, we picked our donor in early December. She did all of her screening in early January. She was a repeat donor so we didn't expect any issues but she did have a slight thyroid problem so we had to wait a few months. Our retrieval was April 25th and transfer May 1st. We were initially set to cycle in February though.

There's no way you have to wait that long! I say 6 months max (probably shorter) if you can find a donor fast.

I agree with others, it shouldn't take that long and you should feel good after meeting with your RE! We used frozen DEs and it was about a 6 week process. It is also cheaper so you may want to consider it,

For us, I think it took about 6-8 months from start to finish. Our clinic had a large pool of already pre-screened donors. Once we narrowed it down to our top 2, they contacted the donors and got their availability. Our top selection was actually in the middle of a cycle with another couple, so we moved on to #2, who was available to start immediately.

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After 3 yrs and 4 rounds of IVF, we finally have our sweet baby boy, Jackson. Born 11/18/11. Now we're pregnant with #2! Due 1/31/15.

p.s. A friend of mine who also used donor eggs ended up taking about a year, but that was with two failed attempts (donor issues) before they finally found a good donor and completed the process with her.

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After 3 yrs and 4 rounds of IVF, we finally have our sweet baby boy, Jackson. Born 11/18/11. Now we're pregnant with #2! Due 1/31/15.

We made the decision on March 30 of this year and will transfer in September, if there are no more delays. And that's only because our RE (reproductive endocrinologist) rejected our first three donors. Had the first one worked out, we'd be transfering in a few weeks.18 months seems pretty over the top unless you are restricted to being on a wait list for an internal donor. If you are, I'd change doctors and use an agency.

My first RE (reproductive endocrinologist) DE appointment was October 3rd, and my son was born the following September. We went with in house donor pool -it was small but they aren't a huge clinic. All of my appointments that were prerequisite were done that very first day, including psych eval., mock transfer, financial consult, blood work etc. I would have looked elsewhere immediately if they gave me that time frame. Also the first place I called the lady was a bitch, so I did some research and found another place. My 9 month old is clapping at me as I write this, obviously made the right decision. :-)

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